Rory McIlroy insists he has no concerns about heading to the Middle East in November in his bid to equal Colin Montgomerie’s record of eight Race to Dubai titles. Speaking on Wednesday, Bob MacIntyre and Matthew Fitzpatrick both said they were unsure about heading to the United Arab Emirates for DP World Tour’s season-ending Play-Offs due to the ongoing conflict in the region.
The Abu Dhabi Championship is scheduled to be held at Yas Links on 5-8 November followed by the DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates the following week. “To be honest, I’m not wanting to go to the Middle East with everything that is going on,” MacIntyre told The Scotsman at Wentworth on the eve of the BMW PGA Championship. World No 1 Fitzpatrick, meanwhile, admitted in a press conference: “Being completely honest as things stand right now, I would say I’m not that comfortable.” In contrast, Dubai-based Tommy Fleetwood insisted he felt safe during a recent visit to the UAE, with the DP World Tour issuing a statement saying that “it remains our intention to play as scheduled in the UAE but we continue to monitor the situation and take advice from our international travel advisors.” Speaking after finishing his opening round in the BMW PGA Championship, McIlroy, who currently sits second behind American Patrick Reed in the Racw to Dubai Ranking, insisted he would be happy to see the two season-ending events go ahead in the UAE.
“Yeah, not for me,” he replied to the concerns among some players having bubbled up this week. “If the local governments feel like it’s safe to put on these events, they are not going to put their citizens or people visiting in harm’s way, I imagine. I love the Middle East. I have a lot of friends there, and I’m looking forward to going back for sure.”
Source: www.scotsman.com
